While the main news of the day was - rightfully - the Planned Parenthood Pink Out Day and Cecile Richards’ appearance before Congress, there were a couple of very good policy proposals that moved forward today courtesy of two Montgomery County legislators. Fortunately, both of them bragged about their accomplishments on Facebook so I could write about them.

First, Delegate Ariana Kelly has been pushing for several years to enact a paid family and medical leave proposal for the State. It hasn’t succeeded yet, but there is now funding available from the federal government to study such proposals in the states where they exist and to look at costs and be edits as well as implementation issues. Kelly pushed to get the State to apply for such funding in 2015, but the Hogan Administration wasn’t interested. Undeterred, Delegate Kelly partnered with Montgomery County Councilmember Hans Riemer to apply for the federal funding, and today announced that the County’s grant application has been funded. This will provide meaningful data to the county and the state to move forward with potential legislation to provide paid family and medical leave.

Second, Senator Roger Manno has submitted a bill for the 2016 session to provide for automatic voter registration for all eligible individuals, subject to the right to opt out for those who affirmatively do not want to register. The Universal Voter Registration Act is a forward thinking and innovative proposal that seeks to begin the process of bringing our antiquated voting processes into the 21st century.

More of this kind of stuff, please.